Recovery and entertainment icons Robert Downey Jr., Bobcat Goldthwait, and Ione Skye gather to celebrate John Taylor at the Skirball Cultural Center on February 15th

Writers In Treatment and New Directions for Women have joined forces to honor Duran Duran’s founding member John Taylor with the Experience, Strength and Hope Award on Friday, February 15, 2013 at the Skirball Cultural Center. Robert Downey Jr. will present Writer’s In Treatment’s highest honor to Mr. Taylor during an unforgettable evening that will be hosted by Ed Begley Jr., feature a special appearance by actor/comedian/director Bobcat Goldthwait, Ione Skye, and many more surprises.

The Experience, Strength and Hope Award is given to well-known individuals who have written courageous and honest memoirs about their journey from addiction to recovery. Past honorees include astronaut Buzz Aldrin and Academy Award winning actor Louis Gossett, Jr.

Taylor’s memoir “In the Pleasure Groove: Love, Death & Duran Duran” tells of his upbringing in Birmingham, England, his years with Duran Duran, and his road to recovery.

Writer’s In Treatment Founder, Leonard Buschel commented, “This award recognizes John Taylor who is helping to facilitate the transformation of people’s lives by chronicling his journey through alcoholism and addiction to recovery. At a time when people suffer as much or more from the social stigma of addiction, John has come forward to champion recovery and dispel the dark clouds of superstition regarding this treatable and preventable illness. That certainly deserves our recognition, admiration and heartfelt gratitude.”

The charity event is a celebration of the benefits of clean and sober living and the importance of humor in the recovery process. All proceeds benefit Writers In Treatment’s Jewelle Sturm Memorial Scholarship Fund. Past ceremony participants include award-winning actor and activist Ed Begley, Jr., actors Danny Trejo, Tony Denison, Jack McGee, and actress Joanna Cassidy.

For more information, go to Writers In Treatment or contact Leonard Buschel at (818) 762-0461. This event is SOLD OUT.

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About Writers In TreatmentWriters In Treatment is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization grounded in the arts and recovery fields. W.I.T.’s primary purpose is to save lives through promoting and providing ‘treatment’ as the best first step solution for addiction, alcoholism and other self-destructive behaviors. www.writersintreatment.org. The international REEL Recovery Film Festival is a production of W.I.T. www.reelrecoveryfilmfestivalorg

Ten years ago, Charlestown native Johnny Hickey was a violent criminal who bought, sold, and abused OxyContin and every other narcotic imaginable.

Five years ago, he was working for the US Marshals as an undercover informant, righting a lifetime of wrongs by busting drug and gun rings across the country.

Now it’s time for Hickey to relay his epic story, which trails through the tribulations of friends and relatives he’s lost to opiates – but has a happier ending than the ex-con ever expected. Earlier this year, Hickey’s autobiographical feature film, Oxy-Morons, had successful test screenings at Showcase Cinemas in Randolph and Revere. And this summer, Current TV’s Peabody Award-winning documentary series Vanguard is airing an episode highlighting Hickey’s story.

The buzz is just beginning. Expect to see a lot more of our favorite tattooed townie come September, when Oxy-Morons premieres on big screens in 20 major US markets.

Whether you are a novelist, screenwriter, cinefile, addict or the other 2% of the population, this year’s REEL RECOVERY FILM FESTIVAL will not only change the way attendees view addiction and recovery, but also will identify and celebrate some of the creative minds that are currently redefining how the masses can learn and grow from addiction and recovery. Leave your anonymity at the door and be prepared to share an honest experience with a healthy mix of entertainment icons, addiction and recovery experts, top therapists and total strangers with one thing in common – an appreciation for the journey through addiction and the lessons learned as a result.

While last year’s festival left an indelible mark on the community by featuring a rare opportunity to hear both Ben Stiller and Jerry Stahl discuss “Permanent Midnight”, and actor Danny Huston and U.K. director Bernard Rose discussed and screened their 2000 cult classic, IVANSXTC. BARFLY co-star Roberta Bassin talked about working with Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway while also caretaking Charles Bukowski during his frequent visits to the set. This year’s festival will be taking things a bit further by featuring four New York City biopic classics (POLLACK,BASQUIAT, BASKETBALL DIARIES and CIAO! MANHATTAN.) with several surprise guests set to participate in post-screening discussions. Packed with various perspectives and vastly differing schools of thought, these discussions are certain to get to the core of the topic and not safely dance around the issues. It is this sometimes uncomfortable dynamic which ensures an unforgettable experience for all those in attendance.

The Betty Ford Center is hosting OPENING NIGHT on Tuesday, Oct. 26th with a 25th Anniversary screening of the “The Honour of All”, the extraordinary film about the Alkali Lake Indian Tribe in British Columbia, Canada. The film shows how a reservation suffering a 100% alcoholism rate, then achieves an 80% sobriety rate which they have maintained to this day. Elders from Alkali Lake will be present and lead a traditional drum circle ceremony around several square blocks in Hollywood, CA.

This year’s REEL Recovery Film Festivalis a five-day celebrationof the arts, creativity and the prevention of life shattering addictions. The audience will be psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists, chemical dependency counselors, men and women in recovery, members of the entertainment industry, media representatives and the general public. This is the social, cultural and networking recovery event of the year

Writers In Treatment is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization grounded in the arts and recovery fields. W.I.T.’s primary purpose is to save lives through promoting and providing ‘treatment’ as the best first step solution for addiction, alcoholism and other self-destructive behaviors. We also offer educational, prevention and awareness programs through our W.I.T. Author/Outreach Series.

Similar to Betty Ford bringing addiction out of the closet 28 years ago, WRITERS IN TREATMENT wants to help bring recovery out of the closet today.

Using the tagline “Every story deserves a great second act,” the nonprofit organization Writers in Treatment is trying to assist professional writers who might need financial help to pursue addiction treatment and recovery services. The two-year-old group’s signature event has become a Los Angeles-based film festival that showcases movies with addiction subject matter.

This year’s REEL Recovery Film Festival will be held from Oct. 27-30 in Los Angeles, with plans for a smaller-scale presentation Dec. 13-14 in Nashville, Tenn. Writers in Treatment co-founder Leonard Buschel says last year’s inaugural event, which featured weekly film showings at a rented Hollywood theater, attracted a number of clinicians as well as persons in recovery and non-recovering people.

Some treatment centers sent groups of clients to the screenings last year, and the event included some facilitated process group meetings afterwards. Buschel, a former publisher and addiction counselor who has been in recovery for 15 years, recalls his own emotional experience in early sobriety after he watched the film “Leaving Las Vegas” starring Nicolas Cage.

“I immediately went to a location where meetings were held and waited for the next meeting to start,” he says.

Buschel recalls that while he was aware of other efforts on behalf of specific professional groups, such as musicians, he had never heard of an effort to help writers. People in California often assume the nonprofit was created to assist screenwriters only, but it’s for anyone who derives at least one-quarter of total income from the written word.

Scholarships are available to individuals with or without health insurance. Applicants must agree to participate in a relapse prevention program along with the primary treatment they attend, and must submit—what else?—a written essay of up to 750 words about their addiction and treatment history.

“We’d like to get at least one person a month into treatment,” Buschel says.

Besides the film festival, Writers in Treatment also sponsors educational events featuring authors and field professionals. The group tries to be sensitive to the needs of writers, who like other artists often find it difficult to resume with their craft in early recovery, Buschel says.

For more information about the REEL Recovery Film Festival, visit www.writersintreatment.org. Writers in Treatment is seeking corporate sponsors for this fall’s event. In addition, film and video entries for possible screening at the festival are being accepted through midnight on Sept. 17.

1625 North Las Palmas Avenue Hollywood, CA 90028

(Los Angeles, CA-Nashville, TN-July 19, 2010) – Writers In Treatment is seeking film and video submissions from professional, amateur and student filmmakers, and Sponsors for their 2nd AnnualREEL Recovery Film Festival in Los Angeles, October 27-30, and Nashville, TN, December 15-16, 2010

Last year’s Festival was an outstanding success. Talent associated with the film or a film historian introduced each screening with a scintillating presentation. Psychologists facilitated a post-screening mini-process group with audience members. This year we will be screening original shorts, documentaries, music videos and features plus four New York bio-pic classics: POLLACK, BASQUIAT, BASKETBALL DIARIES and CIAO MANHATTAN. We are soliciting submissions from the U.S. and abroad.

During last year’s eight-night festival Ben Stiller and writer Jerry Stahl presented Permanent Midnight for a 10th Anniversary showing, and actor Danny Huston and U.K. director Bernard Rose discussed and screened their 2000 cult classic, IVANSXTC. Barfly co-star Roberta Bassin talked about working with Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway while also caretaking Charles Bukowski during his frequent visits to the set.

This year’s REEL Recovery Film Festivalis a four-day celebrationof the arts, creativity and the prevention of life shattering addictions. Writers In Treatment will host several panels with well know writers and performers discussing how victory over alcoholism and substance abuse heightens and exhilarates one’s creativity and career.

The audience will be psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists, chemical dependency counselors, men and women in recovery, members of the entertainment industry, media representatives and the general public. This is the social, cultural and networking recovery event of the year.